New state rules threaten Broadway child actors

(AP Photo/Barlow Hartman, Joan Marcus)In this June 2008 photo released by Barlow Hartman PR, actress Sami Gayle stars as Baby June, center, in the Broadway production of "Gypsy."

A report an NYDailyNews.com says new proposed state regulations would slash the number of hours for Broadway child performers.

This would make it nearly impossible for juveniles to work on Broadway.

The proposed New York State Labor Department regulations would prohibit actors under the age of 18 from working past 10 p.m. - before most Broadway shows end - and limit the hours they could work.

Actors between the age of 9 and 16 would be limited to no more than five hours of actual work and must have at least three hours of schooling.

Leo Rosales, New York Labor Department spokesman, said the new regulations result from a 2008 law that empowered the labor commissioner to "safeguard the health, education, morals and general welfare of child performers."

A public hearing is set for Jan. 31.

Rosales said, "We want their comments because we are going to look at them very closely to see if any changes need to be made."

Nancy Fox of the Screen Actors Guild warned the new rules could drive film and TV productions to less restrictive states. "You want to make sure New York is as user-friendly as possible," Fox said.

"It really just comes down to the Department of Labor didn't understand what they were doing and they did it anyway," said Linda Crisp, the parent of an 11-year-old actor and founder of the Child Performers Coalition.

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